Emergency call analysis system

ABSTRACT

A method for communicating information associated with emergency calls communicated to emergency response centers includes receiving, by an emergency call analysis system, emergency call information that defines an emergency call communicated to an emergency response center within a geographic region. The emergency call information includes location information of the emergency call. The emergency call analysis system may then determine statistical information associated with emergency calls made within a geographic region. A computer server may then generate browser code executable by a browser to cause the browser to display the statistical information.

BACKGROUND

Emergency calls originating from landline and cellular phones areconfigured to be automatically routed to public safety answering points(PSAP). Each emergency call may include information that enablesdetermining a location of the caller, and the number of the caller. Inthe case of cellular phones, carrier information may be provided.

The PSAP may correspond to a primary emergency response center capableof coordinating an emergency response, such as a local police departmentin a town. PSAPs may also correspond to secondary emergency responsecenters, such as state highway patrol departments. In some instance,these PSAPs may not be prepared to coordinate an emergency response.Rather, the secondary emergency response center may route an emergencycall to a primary response center.

A PSAP responding to an emergency call may gather additional informationassociated with the emergency call, such as the amount of time thecaller waited for personnel to answer the call, a number of rings,whether the caller abandoned the call. Other information, such aswhether the call was transferred to a primary emergency response center,may be gathered.

One problem with this arrangement, however, is that the information fromthe various PSAPs is not consistent between PSAPs, which makesdetermining trends associated with emergency calls difficult. Moreover,no common method for gaining access to the information exists.Therefore, determining emergency call information at, for example, astatewide level is difficult, if not impossible.

As noted above, a cellular telephone tower may or may not be routed toprimary response centers. In many instances, a cellular tower isconfigured to route emergency calls to a secondary emergency responsecenter. In other cases, the cellular tower is configured according toempirical data that indicates an optimal primary emergency responsecenter that will more effectively serve as a PSAP for emergency callscommunicated via the cellular tower. Cellular towers routed based onempirical data to primary emergency response centers are hereinafterreferred to as RED sectors as they are routed based on empirical data.

In emergency situations where every second counts, the configuration ofa cellular tower can mean the difference between life and death. Forexample, it is well established that an individual suffering from acardiac arrest only has about six minutes to survive. As such, thesurvival rate of such an individual depends in part on a responsivenessof emergency personnel. The responsiveness of emergency personnel inpart turns on an amount of time taken to route an emergency call to aprimary emergency response center. Emergency calls routed throughnon-RED sector cellular towers (i.e., cellular towers routed tosecondary emergency centers) will take longer to reach appropriateemergency personnel than those routed through RED sector-type cellulartowers.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Methods, system, and computer-readable media are provided forcommunicating information associated with emergency calls communicatedto emergency response centers.

In a first aspect, a method for communicating information associatedwith emergency calls communicated to emergency response centers mayinclude receiving, by an emergency call analysis system, emergency callinformation that defines an emergency call communicated to an emergencyresponse center within a geographic region. The emergency callinformation includes location information of the emergency call. Theemergency call analysis system may determine statistical informationassociated with emergency calls made within a geographic region. Acomputer server may then generate browser code executable by a browserto cause the browser to display the statistical information.

In a second aspect, a system is provided for communicating informationassociated with emergency calls communicated to emergency responsecenters. The system includes an emergency call analysis systemconfigured to receive emergency call information that defines anemergency call communicated to an emergency response center within ageographic region. The emergency call information includes locationinformation of the emergency call. The emergency call analysis system isalso configured to determine statistical information associated withemergency calls made within a geographic region. A computer server isconfigured to generate browser code executable by a browser to cause thebrowser to display the statistical information.

In a third aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium isprovided. The storage medium includes instructions for receivingemergency call information that defines an emergency call communicatedto an emergency response center within a geographic region. Theemergency call information includes location information of theemergency call. Instructions are provided for determining statisticalinformation associated with emergency calls made within a geographicregion and generating browser code executable by a browser to cause thebrowser to display the statistical information.

In a fourth aspect, a method for predicting a survival rate amongindividuals, where the survival rate depends in part on a responsivenessof emergency personnel, and the responsiveness of the emergencypersonnel depends in part on an amount of time taken to route anemergency call to a primary emergency response center, includesdetermining, by a computer system, a number of emergency calls initiallyrouted to a primary emergency response center. The computer systemdetermines a number of emergency calls initially routed to a secondaryemergency response center that, in turn, routes the emergency calls tothe primary emergency response center. The computer system calculates asurvival rate amount individuals according to a function of thedetermined number of the number of emergency calls initially routed to aprimary emergency response center and the number of emergency callsinitially routed to a secondary emergency response center. Thecalculated survival rate is displayed on a terminal.

In a fifth aspect, a system for predicting a survival rate amongindividuals, where the survival rate depends in part on a responsivenessof emergency personnel, and the responsiveness of the emergencypersonnel depends in part on an amount of time taken to route anemergency call to a primary emergency response center, includes acomputer system configured to determine a number of emergency callsinitially routed to a primary emergency response center and a number ofemergency calls initially routed to a secondary emergency responsecenter that, in turn, routes the emergency calls to the primaryemergency response center, and calculate a survival rate amountindividuals according to a function of the determined number of thenumber of emergency calls initially routed to a primary emergencyresponse center and the number of emergency calls initially routed to asecondary emergency response center. A server is configured to generatebrowser code executable by a browser to cause the browser to display thecalculated survival rate on a terminal.

In a sixth aspect, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium isprovided. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storesincludes at least one code section for determining a number of emergencycalls initially routed to a primary emergency response center,determining a number of emergency calls initially routed to a secondaryemergency response center that, in turn, routes the emergency calls tothe primary emergency response center, and calculating a survival rateamount individuals according to a function of the determined number ofthe number of emergency calls initially routed to a primary emergencyresponse center and the number of emergency calls initially routed to asecondary emergency response center.

The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing inthis section should be taken as a limitation on those claims. Furtheraspects and advantages of the invention are discussed below inconjunction with the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary emergency call analysis system (ECAS);

FIGS. 2A-4 are exemplary dashboards that convey statistical informationassociated with emergency calls that may be communicated to a user via abrowser;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary dashboard that enables predication of a number ofsurvivors of a traumatic medical emergency; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a general computer system that may represent any ofthe computing devices referenced herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments below describe an exemplary system configured to processinformation from emergency calls to determine statistical informationabout the nature of the emergency calls. The system is configured togenerate a group of webpages, hereinafter referred to as dashboards, toconvey the statistical information. The dashboards are viewable via acomputer browser.

The dashboards are configured to maximize an amount of informationdisplayed. The dashboards display a geographic region that enableslocating the source of an emergency call. The dashboards further displaysub regions of the geographic region. Statistical information may bebroken down according to sub regions and displayed on the dashboards.

Other embodiments are provided for generating a dashboard configured toenable an operator to predict a number of lives that may be saved duringa medical emergency, such as a cardiac arrest. The dashboards areconfigured to generate a prediction of the number of lives saved basedin part on whether a cellular tower is routed to a primary emergencyresponse center or a secondary emergency response center.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary emergency call analysis system (ECAS) 100. TheECAS includes a processor 105 and a web server 110. Also shown are anemergency call database 115 and a browser 120 in communication with theECAS 100.

The processor 105 and web server 110 may correspond to an Intel®, AMD®,or PowerPC® based computer or a different computer. The processor 105and web server 110 may include an operating system, such as a MicrosoftWindows®, Linux, or other Unix® based operating system. The processor105 and web server 110 may be implemented within a single computersystem or be separate. The processor 105 and web server 110 may beconfigured to communicate with other computers via an interface, such asa network interface.

The processor 105 is configured to analyze emergency call information125 communicated by any number of networks or databases that provideemergency call information associated with wired and wireless phones.For example, the emergency call information 125 may be communicated froma PSAP, a PSAP controller, or other source via a network. The emergencycall information may include Automatic Number Identification (ANI)information for determining a number of the caller, Automatic LocationIdentification Information (ALI) that enables determining a geographiclocation of a user initiating an emergency call, a number of the caller,the emergency response center (e.g., PSAP) to which the call was routed,how many rings occurred before the call was answered, whether the callwas transferred from a secondary emergency response center to a primaryemergency response center, whether the call was abandoned, and/or areason for the call. Other information may be included in the emergencycall information 125.

Exemplary systems configured to gather emergency call information from avariety of sources that may be used in connection with the embodimentsdisclosed herein are described in U.S. application Ser. Nos. 12/574,664,filed Oct. 6, 2009, 12/699,727, filed Feb. 3, 2010, 10/791,954, filedMar. 2, 2004, 10/722,677, filed Nov. 24, 2003 (now abandoned),09/967,291, filed Sep. 27, 2001 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,356),09/712,655, filed Nov. 13, 2000 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,504,909), and09/467,641, filed Dec. 20, 1999 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,385), thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Informationcommunicated and/or processed by these systems may be stored in a singledatabase 115 or a group of databases.

The processor 105 may analyze the emergency call information stored inthe database 115 to generate statistical information associated withemergency calls. The processor 105 may generate browser executable code,such as HTML code, Java, VBScript, and/or other code, operable todisplay a web page that includes the statistical information. Thebrowser code is communicated to a web server 110, which enables accessto the statistical information via a network, such as the Internet.

FIGS. 2A-5 illustrates exemplary dashboards or web pages that may begenerated by the processor 105 and/or web server 110 and communicated toa browser 120 via the web server 110. In this regard, the processor 105may be configured to execute instructions stored in one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media that are configured to cause theprocessor 105 to perform any of the operations described herein.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the processor 105 and/or web server may generatebrowser code operable to cause a browser 120 to display a firstexemplary dashboard 200 configured to display information associatedwith emergency calls, such as 9-1-1 calls. The emergency calls for whichthe information is presented may correspond to all emergency callswithin a geographic region 207, such as a county, state, country,continent, or other geographic region. The geographic region 207illustrated in this case is the state of California. The sameinformation may be provided for sub regions of the geographic region207. The sub regions may correspond to cities, counties and the like,and/or may correspond to regions served by a given public safetyanswering point (PSAP).

The dashboard 200 may be divided into first and second regions 205 and210. The first region 205 may display statistical information foremergency calls that occur within a geographic region 207, such as thestate of California. The geographic region 207 within which the callsoccur may also be shown. An indication of the location of a PSAP towhich the emergency call is routed may be superimposed on the geographicregion 207. For example, a location symbol 213, such as a colored dot,may be shown to represent the location of the PSAP. The color,intensity, and/or size of the symbol 213 may be adjusted to represent anumber of calls that occur within the geographic region 207. Forexample, the processor 105 may determine a number of calls originatingfrom each sub region of the geographic region 207 and configure thesymbol accordingly (e.g., change the color intensity) to indicate therelative number of emergency calls from each sub region. Alternativelyor in addition, the location of the caller that originated the emergencycall may be superimposed on the geographic image 207 and indicated asdescribed above.

The second region 210 may display statistical information associatedwith various sub regions of the geographic region 207, such as counties,municipalities, etc., and/or by PSAP. To save display real estate, thenumber of sub regions listed may be limited. For example, the actualnumber of sub regions may be around 450. However, it may not be possibleto display such a high number of sub regions within a given display.Therefore, the sub region list may be restricted to a subset number ofsub regions. For example, statistical information associated with thetop 55 PSAPs may be displayed in the second region 210. The top 55 PSAPsmay correspond to those PSAPs that receive the highest call volume. Thesub regions may be sorted based on call volume or a different metric. Insome implementations, a scroll bar 212 is provided to enable scrollingthrough second region 210 to display other PSAPs. Other implementationsmay enable zooming the second region in and out to enable viewing agreater or lesser number of sub regions.

Information shown in the dashboard 200 may be periodically updated, suchas every minute, hour, or at a different interval. For example, theprocessor 105 may generate code that implements a timer in the browsercode that is configured to cause the browser to periodically requestupdated information from the ECAS 110. In this regard, browser code maybe configured to display a timer symbol 214 that indicates the amount oftime until a next automatic update.

In the first region 205, statistical information associated withemergency calls is broken into several statistical elements, each ofwhich is visually represented via a visual element 215, such as a chart.The various visual elements 215 of the control dashboard are shown inFIGS. 2B-2J for clarity. Each visual element 215 may include a minimum,median and maximum number associated with a statistical element. Eachvisual element 215 may display a running prediction of the valuerepresented by the visual element. The prediction may be determined byaveraging a given value over a period, such as one day, week, month,etc. An average value for different times of the day may be determined,such as a minute-by-minute average or an hour-by-hour average. Minimumand maximum values over the period and throughout a day may bedetermined. The processor 105 may compute the various values for eachstatistical element. Once computed, the processor 105 embeds therespective values within the browser code so that the values aredisplayed when the dashboard 200 is presented. In other implementations,the processor 105 generates browser code, executed by the browser thatis configured to determine the respective values described above.

The visual elements 215 may include color information to enable theconveyance of additional information. For example, referring to FIG. 2B,a first visual element 215 may indicate the current number of callsreceived in a first color 222 (e.g., blue) and a run-rate prediction ofthe number of calls that will be received in a second color 224 (e.g.,grey). A third color (e.g., red) may be utilized to represent the casewhere a current value exceeds a maximum threshold for that statisticalelement. For example, if the current number of calls shown in firstvisual element 220 were to exceed a maximum threshold, the color used toindicate the current number of calls may be changed from blue to red todraw the attention of an operator to the possibility that there may be aproblem. For example, the occurrence of large-scale emergency maytrigger a ten- or hundred-fold increase in the number of emergency callsto PSAPs. The number of calls may exceed typical maximums and,therefore, be shown in red.

FIGS. 2C and 2D illustrate visual elements 215 that display informationassociated with abandoned calls and total calls, respectively. FIGS.2E-2H respectively illustrate visual elements 215 that displayinformation associated with a number of business, residential, wirelesscalls, and other calls that cannot be classified as one of the three.For example, referring to FIG. 2 c, a current percentage and number ofabandoned calls 230 may be shown along with a predicted percentage andnumber of abandoned calls 231. The predicted number of abandoned callsmay correspond to an average number of abandoned calls that occurredover a period. A current value line 233 on the graph 232 corresponds tothe current number of abandoned calls that occurred during a day. Aprediction line 234 graphs the predicted number of abandoned calls at agiven time of day. The upper and lower bounds of the prediction line 234represent the average maximum and minimum values, respectively,throughout the day. A centerline 237 represents the average valuethroughout the day. Any deviation in the current value line above theupper bound of the prediction line 234 maximum threshold may beemphasized. For example, a deviating point 235 may be illustrated inred. A minimum percentage 235 and maximum percentage 236 of abandonedcalls experienced during the measurement may also be displayed in thevisual element.

The visual elements shown in FIGS. 2D-2H convey similar types ofstatistical information albeit associated with the informationrepresented by the respective visual elements. Thus, the visual elements215 are configured to convey a maximum amount of information within arelatively small display space. This in turn enables placement of manyvisual elements to convey a large amount of information on a singledisplay.

FIGS. 2I and 2J are visual elements 215 that display informationassociated with ring times and call durations, respectively. Forbrevity, aspects of the visual elements are described with reference toFIG. 2I. However, it should be understood that the visual elements ofFIG. 2J convey similar information with respect to call durations.Referring to FIG. 2I, a current ring time 240 is displayed. The currentring time 240 corresponds to the ring time of a current call. Apredicted average ring 241 is also shown. A graph 242 displays the ringtimes of emergency calls generated within, for example, a one-hour timeperiod. A first indicator displayed on the graph 242 represents thecurrent ring time 243. A second indicator on the graph 243 represents amaximum ring time threshold 244. The maximum ring time threshold 244 maybe computed by the processor 105 and may correspond to an average ringexperienced during a period such as a day, week, year or other period.Alternatively, an operator may specify the maximum ring time threshold244. The percentage and number of calls 245 that exceed the maximum ringtime threshold 244 may be displayed. A predicted maximum number of calls246 that exceed the maximum ring time threshold 244 may also bedisplayed.

FIG. 2K illustrates a visual element 215 that displays calls-per-minuteinformation. The visual element 215 displays the current number of callsper minute 250. A graph 251 displays the number of calls per minutereceived over a period, such as one hour. Minimum and maximum number ofcalls-per-minute threshold statistics 253 and 254 are displayed. Acalls-per-minute threshold value 252 is displayed. The processor 105 maycalculate the calls-per-minute threshold value 252. For example, theprocessor 105 may compute an average number of calls per minute 252received over a period, such as a year, month, week, etc., to obtain thecalls-per-minute threshold value 252. Alternatively, an operator mayspecify the calls-per-minute threshold value 252. In someimplementations, the color of the number of calls per minute 250 and/orthe other displayed numbers and elements may be changed when the actualnumber of calls per minute 252 exceeds the calls-per-minute thresholdvalue 252.

FIG. 2J illustrates a portion of the statistical information associatedwith the subset regions displayed in the second region 210. In thiscase, the subset regions correspond to PSAPs of the state of California.Statistical information for each PSAP is represented in a group ofcolumns identified by headings labeled last hour 260, calls-per-hour261, and day total 262.

The last hour column 260 indicates the number of emergency callsreceived by a PSAP in the last hour. The calls-per-hour column 261displays a number and a graph. The number corresponds to the maximumnumber of calls a PSAP can handle. The maximum number may be based on ahistorical maximum number of calls the PSAP has received. The graphdisplays the number of calls received in a given hour. However, otherperiods may be represented. (E.g., a day, a week, a month, etc.) Themaximum number of calls the PSAP can handle is represented as ahorizontal line on the graph.

The day total column 262 displays a number that correspond to the totalnumber of calls received by the PSAP in the current day, and a bar graphdisplays the total number of calls 263 superimposed over a predictedcall volume 264 to enable quickly ascertaining whether the number ofcalls is about to exceed or exceeds the predicted call volume 264. Asdescribed above, the graph and/or other numbers described may beconfigured to change color when a maximum predicted value is exceeded.For example, the processor 105 may generate browser code configured tochange the color of a given display element when the predicted value isexceeded. This advantageously alerts an operator of the condition.

Other columns indicate the percentage of wireless 263, residential 264,business 265, and other calls 266, as described above. A percentage ofabandoned calls column 267 displays a number of abandoned calls and agraph that is configured to indicate when the number of abandoned callsexceeds a threshold. For example, the graph may change to red to alertan operator of a high rate of abandoned calls.

A ring time column 268 and call duration column 269 indicate the averagering time and call durations associated with emergency calls to a PSAP.The ring times and call durations may be configured to indicate whethera maximum threshold has been exceeded. For example, the ring times andcall durations may be displayed in red to indicate that the respectivevalues are out of an acceptable range and may be displayed in blue toindicate that the respective values are within the acceptable range.

A calls-per-position column 270 displays a number and graph thatrepresent the number of calls per position. A calls-per-position column270 displays a number and graph that represent the number of calls perposition or number of call takers available to receive emergency callsat a given PSAP or sub region and a relative number of emergency callsthat those call takers are receiving. For example, a large PSAP, such asLos Angeles may have a large number of call takers while a smaller townmay only have one or two call takers. The calls-per-position column 270enables an operator to determine whether redistribution of the emergencycall numbers is warranted. For example, geographically adjacent PSAPsmay both be able to handle emergency calls from a given region. However,based on information in the dashboard 200, it may be determined that oneof the PSAPs is operating at capacity as compared to the other.Therefore, a decision to reroute emergency calls to the other PSAP thathas more capacity may be made.

As shown, the dashboard 200 enables an operator to quickly ascertaininformation associated with emergency calls communicated to PSAPs withina geographic region 207. Placing an indicator on the geographic region207 enables quickly determining where emergency calls are occurring. Thevarious visual elements enable an operator to determine whether anyunusual conditions exist by displaying the statistical parametersassociated with the emergency calls. Changing the color of variouselements of the visual elements enables the operator to quickly zero-inon problem areas as they occur. Presentation of the statisticalinformation associated with sub regions of the geographic region 207further enables the operator to identify trouble spots.

FIG. 3A illustrates a second exemplary dashboard 300 that may becommunicated to a browser 120. The dashboard 300 is configured todisplay a location associated with emergency calls and identificationinformation of the emergency calls in real-time. That is, theinformation is displayed generally within a short time of the occurrenceof the emergency call. For example, the processor 105 may analyze andprocess the emergency call information 125 to identify informationsuitable for display on the dashboard 300. The processor 105 maydetermine whether a given emergency call occurred in the geographicregion 325 displayed on the dashboard 300. If so, that emergency callmay be processed and information associated with the emergency call maybe displayed in real-time on the dashboard 300.

The dashboard 300 includes a geographic region 325, call volumeinformation region 315, and identification information 320. Thedashboard 300 also displays a status region 305 that includes atimestamp, a total number of calls, a number of calls per hour, anaverage number of calls per hour, and an average number of calls perminute. A chart 330 displays the number of calls per minute. Otherstatus information may be provided.

As emergency calls occur, identification information 320 associated witheach emergency call is scrolled within the dashboard 300. Exemplaryinformation that may be displayed is shown in FIG. 3B. Theidentification information 320 for each emergency call may include atimestamp that indicates a time at which the emergency call was placedand location information. Other information, such as a network carrierthrough which the emergency call was routed, may be displayed.Additionally, information that identifies the PSAP to which theemergency call was routed may be displayed. Other information may bedisplayed as well.

In some implementations, a location symbol may be displayed on thegeographic region 325 to indicate a location associated with anemergency call. As described above, the location symbol may beconfigured to graphically represent a number of calls occurring at agiven location. The corresponding location symbols and identificationinformation may be color-coded to enable determining identificationinformation associated with a specific location.

The dashboard 300 enables, for example, determination of the location ofthe epicenter of an event, such as an earthquake. Analysis of theemergency call information may enable determining a number of regionswhere the earthquake was felt. This in turn may enable more efficientdispatching of emergency personnel to the affected areas.

In some implementations, the dashboard 300 may be adapted to conveyhistorical emergency call information stored in a database 115. Forexample, the processor 105 may search the database 115 for emergencycalls that occurred within a specified time range. A timestamp of eachemergency call enables determination of a time at which the emergencycalled occurred.

An operator may then play back the historical information by selecting astart input field 310. The dashboard 300 may then begin to display thehistorical emergency call information as though it is just occurring.The historical emergency call information may be embedded in the browsercode of the dashboard. Alternatively, the dashboard 300 browser code maybe configured by the processor 105 to stream the historical emergencycall information and/or processed information associated with thehistorical emergency call information from the ECAS 100.

During play back, the status region 305 may be updated to show a currenttotal number of calls, calls per hour, average number of calls, andcalls per minute. The chart 330 may be updated to show a number of callsreceived during a period. In addition, respective call volumesassociated with different sub regions of the geographic region 325 maybe reflected in the call volume information region 315. For example, thenumber of calls received at various PSAPs that operate in the geographicregion 325 may be displayed via a bar graph. As described above, variousindicator colors may be applied to the graphs to illustrate a currentcall volume, a predicted call volume, and whether the current callvolume exceeds the predicted call volume.

By monitoring the play back of the historical call information, anoperator can assess the way in which individuals respond to an actualemergency. For example, during an initial period, the emergency callvolume may correspond to a baseline emergency call volume. By observingthe change in the number of emergency calls and the location at whichthe emergency calls originate, an operator can determine where theemergency was perceived and possibly by how many individuals.

Another benefit provided by the dashboard 300 is that, in some cases,the call capacity of cellular towers within a given region may bedetermined. For example, the number of callers that may be “camped” on acellular tower is finite. When the number of callers exceeds thisnumber, new callers may receive a busy signal. However, in 911implementations, when such a condition exists, the caller may be handedover to a different cellular tower that is within range of the callerand that has capacity. This handing over may be observed via thedashboard 300 when large numbers of emergency calls arrive at the sameapproximate time. For example, an emergency may be known to haveoccurred in a given location. However, observation of the dashboard 300may indicate that PSAPs that are quite remote from the emergency arereceiving unusually high numbers of calls. This may indicate to anoperator that the call capacity of cellular towers near the emergencyare saturated with callers. This in turn enables one to determine themaximum capacity of those cellular towers. This information could, forexample, be beneficial to carriers that compete against one another, asa given carrier may not otherwise have knowledge of the call capacitycapabilities of his competitors.

FIG. 4 illustrates a third exemplary dashboard 400 that may becommunicated to a browser 120. The dashboard 400 displays call detailand summary statistics as to why people call emergency response centers.The dashboard 400 includes a geographic region 420, a sub region list415, a status region 405, and a category region 410.

Information in the dashboard 400 may be based on emergency callsgenerated in a prior month, week, day, or different period. Theinformation is analyzed to categorize the reason behind the emergencycall. For example, the emergency calls may be categorized asnon-emergency 425, police-related 430, medical-related 435, andfire-related 440. The processor 105 may determine the categories. Forexample, the processor 105 may determine whether an emergency call is apolice-, medical-, or fire-related call by analyzing emergency callinformation that defines where the emergency call was ultimately routedby the PSAP. In addition, the PSAP receiving the call may specifyadditional details related to the emergency call, such as whether thecall was a prank, traffic-related, etc.

The different categories are represented through various colorized bargraphs, maps and sankey diagrams to give the viewer rapid understandingof the emergency call distributions. That is so that the viewer canquickly understand the types of emergency calls being generated. Forexample, the color orange may used to represent fire-related calls.Green, blue, and grey may be used to represent medical-, police-, andnon-emergency-related calls, respectively.

The status region 405 indicates the percentage of emergency calls thatfall into the respective categories. The percentage may be based onemergency calls made throughout the geographic region 420. For example,the percentages may correspond to emergency calls made throughout thestate of California.

The category region 410 includes a sankey diagram 450 that matches subregions 445 of the geographic region 420 to categories. The sankeydiagram 450 may be color-coded to enable rapid conveyance ofinformation. The sub regions 445 matched may correspond to a subset ofsub regions of the geographic region 420. For example, the sub regions445 that result in the top ten number of emergency calls may be listedin the category region 410. The sub regions 445 may correspond to thelargest municipalities in the geographic region. Other criteria forselecting the sub regions 445 may be used.

Reasons for the emergency calls may be provided for each category. Forexample, a number of non-emergency calls 425 may correspond to prankcalls, follow-up calls, calls for general information, trafficcomplaints, and the like. Reasons for the police-, medical- andfire-related calls may also be provided. The reasons provided maycorrespond to those reasons that occur the most frequently.

The sub region list 415 may correspond to a list or a subset list of subregions of the geographic region. The sub regions listed may correspondto those sub regions that experience the highest number of emergencycalls. For each sub region in the sub region list 415, a color-coded bargraph may be provided. The bar graph indicates the percentage ofemergency calls within the sub region that fall into the categoriesdescribed above. The colors in the bar graph may be matched to thecolors used in the category region 410 and status region 405 forconsistency.

The geographic region 420 may correspond to a state, or a sub region ofthe state. Alternatively, the geographic region 420 may correspond to anentire country, continent, or other geographic region. One or morecharts 455 may be superimposed on the geographic region 420 over subregions. The charts 455 may correspond to pie charts or other chartsthat indicate the relative percentage of emergency calls that fall intoone category or another. The charts 455 may be color-coded as describedabove.

FIG. 5 illustrates a fourth exemplary dashboard 500 that may becommunicated to a browser 120 for predicting a survival rate amongindividuals that experience a life-threatening medical condition whereminutes can mean the difference between life and death. The dashboard500 includes a geographic region 505, a sub region list 520, ageographic region information section 525, a sub region informationsection 530 that includes a routing control 515, and a response timecontrol 510.

The dashboard 500 is configured to display a prediction of a number ofcardiac arrest survivors. However, it is understood that the principalsdisclosed herein may be applied to predict survival rates associatedwith other traumatic events. The prediction takes into consideration anumber of factors that include the number of incidents (e.g., cardiacarrests) in a geographic region 505, the population of the geographicregion 505, and the number of cellular towers in the geographic region505. For example, the prediction may be calculated according to thefollowing: First, it may be assumed that the number of cardiac arrestcases in a county is approximately 0.096× the county population, that92% of all cardiac arrest cases result in death, that each one-minutedelay in receiving care results in a ten-percentage point decline inlikelihood of survival, and that all cardiac arrests result in a 9-1-1call.

Based on these foregoing assumptions and an iterative Monte Carlosimulation, an estimated average time to administer care is calculatedto be 520 seconds with an assumed standard deviation of ±30 seconds.

Given a ratio of RED sectors to non-RED sectors, p, a RED sector deltatime, dt, and a total number of calls, n, n*p randomly selected callsare handled by RED sectors and the rest are handled by a state highwaypatrol. For calls handled by RED sectors, the mean first responsetime=520-dt and the standard deviation is 30 seconds. Based on theabove, the probability of survival may be calculated randomly for eachcall. Based on this probability, a “crooked” coin is tossed to determineif each call results in a death or not. The number of deaths are talliedup for each sub region for each range of RED sector ratio and RED sectordelta time and displayed on the dashboard 500.

The geographic region information section 525 displays the number of REDsectors 545 (i.e., the number of cellular towers routed to primaryemergency response centers). Also shown is the number of cellular towersrouted to secondary emergency response centers 550 (e.g. CaliforniaHighway Patrol (CHP) sectors). A base number of lives saved 555, achanged number of lives 560, and a total number of lives save 565 areshown. The total number of lives save 565 is the sum of the base numberof lives saved 555 and the changed number of lives 560. As describedbelow, a change in the number of lives saved occurs when a user adjustseither the routing control 515 or the response time control 510, inwhich case a changed number of lives 560 value is specified.

The sub region information section 530 displays information associatedwith a sub region selected from the sub region list 520. For example,the city of Los Angeles may be selected in the sub region list 520. Inthis case, the sub region information section 530 displays a percentageof RED sectors and non-RED sectors (e.g. CHP sectors) in Los Angeles.For example, 55% of the cellular towers in Los Angeles may be REDsectors, and the other 45% may be routed to secondary emergency responsecenters. A base number of lives saved, total number of lives saves, anda change in the number of lives saved 540 are also displayed. Therespective values correspond to the number of lives saved in theselected sub region based on the current allocation of cellular towersbetween RED and non-RED sectors. The total number of lives saved is thesum of the base number of lives saved and the change in the number oflives saved 540. As described below, a change in the number of livessaved occurs when a user adjusts either the routing control 515 or theresponse time control 510, in which case a number appears.

The response time control 510 displays the average amount of time anemergency responder takes to respond to an emergency in the selected subregion. For example, the average response time in Los Angeles may be 520seconds.

The sub region list 520 lists various sub regions of the geographicregion 505. For each sub region in the sub region list 502, a number andgraph representing the response time and percentage of RED sectors isprovided.

In operation, a user may select a sub region in the sub region list 520.Information associated with the selected sub region is presented in thesub region information section 530. In some implementations, the subregion may be highlighted on the geographic region 505 to enable theuser to determine the location of the sub region within the geographicregion 505.

The user may then adjust the routing control 515 of the sub regioninformation section 530 to change the allocation of cellular towersbetween RED and non-RED sectors to predict a number of lives saved ifthe number or RED sectors is different. For example, the user may slidea selector 535 of the routing control 515 to the left to increase thenumber of RED sectors. This may result in an increase in the number oflives saved as an increase in the number of RED sectors indicates anincrease in the number of emergency calls routed to RED sectors, whichare routed to primary emergency response centers. The increase in thenumber of lives is represented as the number of changed lives 540 shownin the sub region information section 530. The increase is reflected inthe total lives saved, which corresponds to the sum of the base numberof lives saved and the changed number of lives. Conversely, sliding theselector 535 of the routing control 515 to the right may decrease thenumber of emergency calls routed to RED sectors. This in turn maydecrease the number of lives saved. In this case, the number of changedlives is represented with a negative number.

The user may also adjust a selector of the response time control 510 topredict a number of lives that may be saved if the response to wereimproved.

The changes in the response time and the percentage of RED sectors isalso reflected in the geographic region information section 525 as thechange in lives 560, base lives saved 555, and total lives saved 565correspond to the sum of the change in lives values, base lives savevalues and total lives saved values associate with the various subregions.

As shown, the dashboard 500 enables operators to determine hypotheticalimprovements in the survival rates associated with traumatic medicalevents, such as cardiac arrests. For example, the operator may adjustthe various controls to determine how many additional lives may be savedby configuring emergency calls communicated to cellular towers to berouted to primary emergency response center as opposed to secondaryemergency response centers. Based on the information provided, operatorsmay conclude, for example, that it is more cost-effective to reconfigureone or more cellular towers rather than purchase additional emergencyequipment, such as ambulances and the like.

FIG. 6 illustrates a general computer system 600, which may representthe processor 105, web server 110, or any other computing devicesreferenced herein. The computer system 600 may include a set ofinstructions 645 that may be executed to cause the computer system 600to perform any one or more of the methods or computer-based functionsdisclosed herein. The computer system 600 may operate as a stand-alonedevice or may be connected, e.g., using a network, to other computersystems or peripheral devices.

In a networked deployment, the computer system 600 may operate in thecapacity of a server or as a client-user computer in a server-clientuser network environment, or as a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer(or distributed) network environment. The computer system 600 may alsobe implemented as or incorporated into various devices, such as apersonal computer or a mobile device, capable of executing a set ofinstructions 645 (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to betaken by that machine. Further, each of the systems described mayinclude any collection of sub-systems that individually or jointlyexecute a set, or multiple sets, of instructions to perform one or morecomputer functions.

The computer system 600 may include one or more memory devices 610 on abus for communicating information, such as the emergency callinformation database 115 (FIG. 1). In addition, code operable to causethe computer system to perform any of the acts or operations describedherein may be stored in the memory 610. The memory 610 may be arandom-access memory, read-only memory, programmable memory, hard diskdrive or any other type of memory or storage device.

The computer system 600 may include a display 630, such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), or any other displaysuitable for conveying information. The display 630 may act as aninterface for the user to see the functioning of the processor 605, orspecifically as an interface with the software stored in the memory 610or in the drive unit 615.

Additionally, the computer system 600 may include an input device 625,such as a keyboard or mouse, configured to allow a user to interact withany of the components of system 600.

The computer system 600 may also include a disk or optical drive unit615, such as the high-latency storage 110 (FIG. 1). The disk drive unit615 may include a computer-readable medium 640 in which one or more setsof instructions 645, e.g. software, can be embedded. Further, theinstructions 645 may perform one or more of the operations as describedherein. The instructions 645 may reside completely, or at leastpartially, within the memory 610 and/or within the processor 605 duringexecution by the computer system 600. The memory 610 and the processor605 also may include computer-readable media as discussed above.

The computer system 600 may include a communication interface 635 thatenables communications via a network 650. The network 650 may includewired networks, wireless networks, or combinations thereof. Thecommunication interface 635 network may enable communications via anynumber of communication standards, such as 802.11, 802.12, 802.20,WiMax, cellular telephone standards, or other communication standards.

Accordingly, the method and system may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The method andsystem may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computersystem or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spreadacross several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computersystem or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods describedherein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software may bea general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, whenbeing loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that itcarries out the methods described herein.

The method and system may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which includes all the features enabling the implementation ofthe operations described herein and which, when loaded in a computersystem, is able to carry out these operations. Computer program in thepresent context means any expression, in any language, code or notation,of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having aninformation processing capability to perform a particular function,either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversionto another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a differentmaterial form.

While the method and system has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope. In addition, many modifications may be made toadapt a particular situation or material to the teachings withoutdeparting from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the presentmethod and system not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed,but that the method and system include all embodiments falling withinthe scope of the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A method for communicating information associated withemergency calls communicated to emergency response centers, the methodcomprising: receiving, by an emergency call analysis system, emergencycall information that defines an emergency call communicated to anemergency response center within a geographic region, wherein theemergency call information includes location information of theemergency call; determining, by the emergency call analysis system,statistical information that includes a quantity of emergency calls thatoriginated within a geographic region during a first period, and anaverage quantity of emergency calls that originated within thegeographic region during a second period that is greater than the firstperiod; generating, by a computer server, browser code executable by abrowser to cause the browser to display the statistical information viagraphical indicia of the quantity of emergency calls originated duringthe first period, and graphical indicia of the average quantity ofemergency calls that originated during the second of period.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the geographic region correspondsto a state and the method further comprises determining a number ofemergency calls made within different regions of the state.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the browser code is executable todisplay the geographic region and the method further comprisesindicating, on the geographic region, a source of the emergency callbased on the location information.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the statistical information includes at least one of: an averageemergency call duration, and an average ring time of emergency callsduration.
 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:determining a caller type from the group of caller types consisting of:business, residential, and wireless caller types; and generating browsercode operable to display a chart of the percentage of calls that matchthe caller type received during a period.
 6. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: determining statistical informationassociated with emergency calls made within a plurality of sub regionsof the geographic region; generating, by a computer server, browser codeexecutable by a browser to cause the browser to display informationassociated with at least some of the sub regions, wherein theinformation includes a name and statistical information that includesone or more of: a number of calls, a percentage of wireless calls, apercentage of residential calls, a percentage of business calls, apercentage of abandoned calls, an average ring time, and an average callduration.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the at least someof the sub regions are selected and sorted according to at least one of:the number of calls, the percentage of wireless calls, a percentage ofresidential calls, a percentage of business calls, the percentage ofabandoned calls, the average ring time, and the average call duration.8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising generating, by acomputer server, browser code executable by a browser to cause thebrowser to display a timer symbol that indicates an amount of time untila next automatic update.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein theemergency call information includes identification information of theemergency call and the method further comprises: generating, by acomputer server, browser code executable by a browser to cause thebrowser to display in a first region the identification information;generating, by a computer server, browser code executable by a browserto cause the browser to display in a second region a geographic regionthat represents the geographic region within which the emergency calloccurred; and indicating a location of the emergency call on thegeographic region based on the location information.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 9, further comprising: displaying the identificationinformation and the location of each of the plurality of emergency callsin real-time as emergency calls occur.
 11. The method according to claim1, wherein the emergency call information includes descriptioninformation and the method further comprises; determining a category towhich the emergency call belongs based on the description information;generating, by a computer server, browser code executable by a browserto cause the browser to display a chart that relates one or morecategories to which emergency calls belong to sub regions of thegeographic region.
 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein thebrowser code is executable to display the geographic region and tosuperimpose one or more charts over the sub regions of the geographicimage, wherein each of the one or more charts indicate a relative numberof emergency calls within each sub region that belong to the one or morecategories.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the geographicimage represents a state.
 14. A system for communicating informationassociated with emergency calls communicated to emergency responsecenters, the system comprising: an emergency call analysis systemconfigured to receive emergency call information that defines anemergency call communicated to an emergency response center within ageographic region, wherein the emergency call information includeslocation information of the emergency call; wherein the emergency callanalysis system is further configured to determine statisticalinformation that includes a quantity of emergency calls that originatedwithin a geographic region during a first period, and an averagequantity of emergency calls that originated within the geographic regionduring a second period that is greater than the first period; and acomputer server configured to generate browser code executable by abrowser to cause the browser to display the statistical information viagraphical indicia of the quantity of emergency calls originated duringthe first period, and graphical indicia of the average quantity ofemergency calls that originated during the second of period.
 15. Thesystem according to claim 14, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to determine statistical information associated withemergency calls made within a plurality of sub regions of the geographicregion; and the computer server is further configured to generatebrowser code executable by a browser to cause the browser to displayinformation associated with at least some of the sub regions, whereinthe information includes a name and statistical information thatincludes one or more of: a number of calls, a percentage of wirelesscalls, a percentage of residential calls, a percentage of businesscalls, a percentage of abandoned calls, an average ring time, and anaverage call duration.
 16. The system according to claim 14, wherein theemergency call information includes identification information of theemergency call and the computer server is further configured to:generate browser code executable by a browser to cause the browser todisplay in a first region the identification information; generatebrowser code executable by a browser to cause the browser to display ina second region a geographic region that represents the geographicregion within which the emergency call occurred; and indicate a locationof the emergency call on the geographic region based on the locationinformation.
 17. The system according to claim 14, wherein the emergencycall information includes description information and the processor isfurther configured to determine a category to which the emergency callbelongs based on the description information; and the computer server isfurther configured to generate browser code executable by a browser tocause the browser to display a chart that relates one or more categoriesto which emergency calls belong to sub regions of the geographic region.18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having storedthereon a computer program comprising at least one code section forcommunicating information associated with emergency calls communicatedto emergency response centers, the at least one code section beingexecutable by a machine for causing the machine to perform acts of:receiving emergency call information that defines an emergency callcommunicated to an emergency response center within a geographic region,wherein the emergency call information includes location information ofthe emergency call; determining statistical information that includes aquantity of emergency calls that originated within a geographic regionduring a first period, and an average quantity of emergency calls thatoriginated within the geographic region during a second period that isgreater than the first period; generating browser code executable by abrowser to cause the browser to display the statistical information viagraphical indicia of the quantity of emergency calls originated duringthe first period, and graphical indicia of the average quantity ofemergency calls that originated during the second of period.
 19. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium according to claim 18,wherein the emergency call information includes identificationinformation of the emergency call and wherein the at least one codesection is further executable by the machine for causing the machine toperform acts of: generating browser code executable by a browser tocause the browser to display in a first region the identificationinformation; generating browser code executable by a browser to causethe browser to display in a second region a geographic region thatrepresents the geographic region within which the emergency calloccurred; and indicating a location of the emergency call on thegeographic region based on the location information.
 20. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium according to claim 18,wherein the emergency call information includes description informationand wherein the at least one code section is further executable by themachine for causing the machine to perform acts of: determining acategory to which the emergency call belongs based on the descriptioninformation; generating browser code executable by a browser to causethe browser to display a chart that relates one or more categories towhich emergency calls belong to sub regions of the geographic region.